Running back Morgan Steward played for the Tigers last season, but he will not play the rest of this season because of arthroscopic surgery to repair an injured right hip.
ALLISON LONG
The Kansas City Star

Running back Morgan Steward played for the Tigers last season, but he will not play the rest of this season because of arthroscopic surgery to repair an injured right hip.
ALLISON LONG
The Kansas City Star

Missouri running back Morgan Steward turns corner on recovery

HOOVER, Ala. — Missouri running back and former Staley star Morgan Steward appears to have turned a corner on the lengthy road to recovery from a hip injury he suffered last August during preseason training camp.

Steward has resumed running much to the delight of junior quarterback Maty Mauk, who provided the update Wednesday at SEC Media Days.

Steward — a 6-foot, 210-pound junior — and Mauk first met on recruiting trips together at Missouri, so nobody is pulling for Steward’s return more than Mauk.

“Our families got to know each other really well,” Mauk said. “If you looked at him in the spring, he was a guy that was limping around and it was like, ‘Is he ever going to come back?’”

After returning to Missouri from the Manning Passing Academy, Mauk saw Steward working out as he got in some work with receivers.

“I look over on the sideline, and Morgan’s going full go through a speed ladder,” Mauk said. “I haven’t even seen him jog.”

Mauk stopped and asked, “You ready to go, Morgan?”

“Not yet, but I’m almost there,” Steward said.

Pinkel indicated that it’s very possible Steward plays this fall. He would have characterized it as very doubtful as recently as February.

“Just to see him have that smile back on his face and to know that he’s almost there, I can’t wait to get him back out there,” Mauk said.

Steward had a fantastic spring in 2014 and appeared to be poised for a breakout season before a hip injury in fall camp led to a lengthy rehab process and eventually surgery in mid-November.

“He’s a guy that can run north and south, he can make you miss and he’s going to go through you,” Mauk said. “He’s a big guy, and it’s going to be a great addition to us to have him back out there with us.”